“That’s Truth’s résumé. That’s what he does,” Courtney Lee said afterward. "Who better to go to than him?"

The 3 capped a 22-point night for Pierce, which included four second-half 3-pointers.

“This is Truth’s house,” said Kevin Garnett. “We have all the trust in the world in him.”

Overall, it was another balanced effort for Boston in the absence of Rajon Rondo. Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa contributed 14 points apiece off the bench. Brandon Bass had nine points and eight rebounds while Garnett had 12 and five as he battled through foul trouble.

“We have to do it by committee,” said Jason Terry, who had 13. “In this offense, it’s very unpredictable. You don’t know who’s going to get a shot, but we know we’re going to get a good one.”

The Celtics’ offense continued to look surprisingly potent without its floor general, tying season-highs with 33 in the first quarter and 59 in the first half.

The C’s complemented that outburst with some stifling second-quarter defense, limiting the Clippers to 10 points. Only once this season has Boston yielded fewer in a quarter.

The Clippers whittled what had been a 19-point lead down to three in the fourth quarter after a 15-3 run. That’s when Terry, just reinserted into the game, beat the shot-clock buzzer with a step-back jumper over the taller Barnes. Avery Bradley then drew an offensive foul on Crawford before the Clipper could tie the game with a jump shot.

“We stopped playing,” Rivers said. “That’s what happens when you turn it off.”

The Celtics had previously rebutted Los Angeles’ attempts to make it a game by going a perfect 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the third quarter, including three from Pierce. Barbosa capped the high-scoring period with an awkward, buzzer-beating runner from the top of the key.

“We were playing really good ball — passing, getting up the floor, playing in space,” said Rivers. “When you play small ball, you’ve got to get layups or threes. We’re looking for quick shots.”

That small ball is working so far. On Sunday, Boston cracked the 100-point mark before the midpoint of the fourth quarter. The Celtics had shot 50 percent or better 10 times in their first 43 games before Rondo’s injury. After knocking down 36 of their 72 offerings Sunday, they’ve done it three straight games now.

Of course, the Clippers are not quite themselves without Chris Paul, coming off a 25-point loss in Toronto. Early on, the Celtics were able to badger the makeshift backcourt of Bledsoe and Crawford into bad turnovers; LA had 15 by halftime. The two got some revenge in the final period, consistently beating the C’s up the court for easy buckets to get back into the game.

What was particularly encouraging for the Celtics was how well they handled the Clippers’ healthy and intimidating interior. Before the game, Rivers was justifiably concerned with how Boston would deal with Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, but that didn’t stop him from sticking with the smaller lineups necessitated by the injury to Jared Sullinger. Green spent a decent amount of time guarding Jordan on the post.

There are things, obviously, that are still somewhat broken. The small lineup was crushed on the glass all afternoon by the bigger Clippers. For too long in the fourth quarter, that spread motion offense appeared directionless, as if it, well, had lost its rudder.

And while the Celtics have now won four in a row, the tests get tougher from here. They travel north to see a madeover Raptors team on Wednesday before hosting the Lakers and Nuggets next week.

“We won the game, we beat a heck of a team and I’m very happy with that,” Rivers said. “But in my mind, we can be better — much better — than we were today.”

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